So what’s the deal with tight ends? Are they offensive linemen, or are they receivers? And why are they so tall? Get off the gridiron and maybe step on the basketball court, freakshows! Anyone over 6’5 should be in a circus. And uh…
* Checks notecards, every joke is about how tight ends sometimes have played basketball *
…Huh. Welp, my standup sucks. Let’s talk about tight ends, because I made another spreadsheet.
This is the one I’m going to be referencing here today.
For those not familiar with me or my posts, I’ve recently been using my very large and CPU-jamming database of basically every team and player statistic available for every team and player on Pro-Football-Reference.com to explore NFL history with you guys. In various award-winning posts I’ve tried ranking the best running backs of all time, ranking the best offensive lines of all time, and I have made an index that ranked every NFL team by how badass they were.
But what’s the point of using Z-Score here? My aim with using this method is to remove the fog that surrounds comparisons of players and teams across different eras (how many times have you heard that “you can’t compare a player from 1970 to a player from 2021”, or something similar?). For example, if the average receiving yards for tight ends from 1973-1977 is much lower than tight ends from 2017-2021, a tight end with 1,000 yards in 1975 is going to get a higher Z-Score for receiving yards than a tight end with 1,000 yards from 2019. Same is true for all other scores calculated.
A Z-Score of "0" is totally average, a Z-Score of "1" is pretty good, a Z-Score of "2" is one of the best in a given year if not the decade, and a Z-Score of "3" is a historically significant outlier. Anything higher than that is ridiculous.
So anyways, let’s get into—
BEEP! BEEP! DISCLAIMER ALERT! DISCLAIMER ALERT!
Hey folks, it’s preemptive damage control u/gyman122 here to talk to you about why you don’t need to have me assassinated if this ranking doesn’t look the way you were expecting it to.
First off, yes, my normal “Best” Score is just a comparison of your typical counting stats and it does not include any considerations for blocking ability. Keep in mind that this is a ranking of players going back to 1948. If anyone can find me the yards per target numbers/PFF-style run blocking grade for a guy from 1948, hit me up. I’ll make some upgrades to the database (also, I’ve included a separate adjusted “Best” score from 1992-present since that's when the league began tracking targets).
The “Best” and “Adjusted Best” scores are also just my own opinion, based on what I believe to be the general widely-held perception of what stats should be highly regarded. I tried to crowdsource some opinions of how to rank everything earlier this week by consulting this sub and it was a fucking disaster.
Also, tight end is a very weird position. In comparison to wide receiver and running back, there are not very many tight ends getting regular snaps in the NFL. The sample sizes are much smaller (and that presents issues, as you will see!). Beyond that, going back to the 40’s and 50’s, tight ends were commonly referred to as “ends” (and oftentimes played both ways as what we’d call a defensive end), which is a designation on Pro-Football-Reference that also oftentimes included players who are called “split ends”, otherwise known as what people (more or less) used to call wide receivers before the 60’s. So this required me to go player by player, looking them up online to see where on the field they actually played (oftentimes having to consult whatever film I could find!), and then moving them to my wide receiver database if necessary. This made sample size for the 50’s and 60’s quite small, and also took so long that I gave up on trying to do this for anyone from 1932-1947 as I’d usually do. Sorry guys, it’s been a challenge.
Anyways, let’s get into it.
Best Tight Ends By Career Best Total
| Rank | Player | Best Career Total | Best Career Average | Best Score P/G | Best Score P/R | Receptions Career Average | Yards Career Average | Y/R Career Average | TD Career Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Gonzalez | 31.8364 | 1.9898 | .1253 | .0246 | 2.5406 | 2.5058 | .2719 | 1.8577 |
| 2 | Antonio Gates | 23.2552 | 1.4534 | .0985 | .0244 | 1.3147 | 1.5227 | .6001 | 1.8613 |
| 3 | Shannon Sharpe | 21.9931 | 1.5709 | .1078 | .0270 | 1.8992 | 2.1183 | .6562 | 1.1947 |
| 4 | Jason Witten | 19.1911 | 1.1289 | .0708 | .0156 | 1.8881 | 1.6268 | -.1701 | .6987 |
| 5 | Rob Gronkowski | 19.1253 | 1.7387 | .1337 | .0308 | 1.1247 | 1.8523 | 1.4360 | 2.1510 |
| 6 | Travis Kelce | 18.3294 | 2.2912 | .1455 | .0260 | 2.6355 | 3.0264 | .5739 | 1.9817 |
| 7 | Jimmy Graham | 15.4137 | 1.2845 | .0838 | .0216 | 1.2730 | 1.3611 | .2564 | 1.6866 |
| 8 | Keith Jackson | 13.8490 | 1.5388 | .1074 | .0314 | 1.5593 | 1.6156 | .4355 | 1.9305 |
| 9 | Ozzie Newsome | 13.4793 | 1.0369 | .0681 | .0204 | 1.5152 | 1.3616 | .0472 | .7181 |
| 10 | Kellen Winslow Sr. | 13.1517 | 1.4613 | .1207 | .0243 | 1.9804 | 1.8692 | .1418 | 1.2884 |
So thankfully nobody is going to take issue with this. Keep in mind this is a “career total” ranking, meaning it’s a sum of a players’ “Best” scores from every season of their career (not an average). “Best” score, once again, is a combination of receptions, yards per reception, scrimmage yards and total touchdowns.
Those who bothered to read the preceding paragraph will probably not be too awfully surprised to see Tony Gonzalez towering above the competition. Prior to Gronk, Tony G was the gold standard for how good a tight end could conceivably be and even more than that, he played at a FIRMLY Pro Bowl level to the age of 37 (and that’s not a bullshit Jeff Saturday legacy Pro Bowl, either). The man was a First-Team All-Pro at age 36. What the fuck was with this guy?
Actually, you know what? Hold up. Maybe I’ve had a few too many beers as I’m writing this but I’m about to go off. Tony Gonzalez is underrated. How is the man who completely, definitively, unquestionably redefined the position of tight end and still ranks absurdly high in many career receiving statistics underrated?
Well if I’m being honest, proving this assertion is gonna be a pretty tall task. Tony G gets a lot of respect, so I feel like I kinda set myself up for failure. But let’s begin with the fact that while his paltry career per game averages (adjusted for 17 games) of 86.5 receptions, 988 yards, and 7.3 touchdowns per season might disappoint people in the age of Gronk and Kelce, those career marks for the average year of his career rank him a clear step above the second best performer in those metrics (we’ll get to him later), and then you remember that for 16 years of his 17-year career, this incredibly handsome man was nothing less than a top five tight end year after year. People see anybody playing for a million years and they assume that they’re just stat padding and record-seeking but folks, Tony G was much closer to the Jerry Rice of tight ends than the Emmitt Smith of tight ends.
So, combine the yearly consistency with the length of his career, how is he not #1?
Antonio Gates is not too dissimilar from Tony, and played in more or less the same era of the league. And they both played basketball! Did anyone know that?? Haha. Tight end basketball, body control, boxed out defenders in the redzone like they were going up for rebounds, etc. Gates was a touchdown-scoring animal, catching more TDs than any other tight end in NFL history. His 2004 season in which he caught 13 TDs is ever-so-slightly behind Gronk’s record-breaking 2011 season in terms of touchdown Z-Score. He also leads all tight ends in TD Career Total, with a score of 29.781. Basketball.
Kellen Winslow Sr. and Shannon Sharpe were the prototype and the proof of viability, respectively, for the modern “F” tight end. Both spent just as much or more time lined up somewhere that wasn’t in-line in eras where that was quite uncommon.
Winslow was the first tight end to ever have three seasons of over 1,000 yards, and almost certainly would have had another were it not for the strike in 1982.
If we adjust his 1982 seasons per game averages to 16 games…
You can see that as of 1982, he could have shattered prior tight end records for yards and receptions in a single season in back to back years. In a tight end field that had been dominated almost exclusively by lumbering 230-pound guys to that point in history, it’s not exactly a surprise that the 6’5, 255 pound athlete who could play wide receiver was able to put up crazy numbers in that Air Coryell offense designed to push the ball down the field more than any other offense in history. His 1980 mark of 1,290 yards in a single season wasn’t broken until 2011, when it was broken two times in one season by a pair of guys on this list. It was also the second highest receiving yards mark that season, behind only John Jefferson… who also played for the Chargers. Wow!
Sharpe is perhaps underrated because he suffers a lot from the “he was just a wide receiver” criticism, which, I dunno. Sure. But he also wasn’t listed as that, and not exactly. So congrats, you’ve been bested in the marketplace of ideas.
Sharpe is the only player with two top ten seasons (1993 and 1996) by this index, and is a lot like Gonzalez in that he was able to produce at a high level into his late career with the Ravens and return to the Broncos.
Jason Witten, good player. Played for a LONG time. 271 games, goddamn. That’s the most by a long shot, and though his career best season was ranked just 48th, he was consistently pretty above average so he racks up quite a bit of “Best” total here.
But holy shit, time to have me killed, Rob Gronkowski is just the fifth-highest ranked tight end on this list. Don’t mind me, I'm going to go into the other room and light myself on fire. This index is a massive waste of time and I failed all of you wonderful people.
You have no idea how much I wanted Rob Gronkowski to just magically end up as the top player while I was doing all of these calculations. That would have been such a fucking excellent outcome for me. But unfortunately, I’m just a simple man and the cold, unfeeling domain of numbers wants me to suffer the inevitable scorn that is going to come my way. Let’s get into why he ranks so “low” (he’s still top five, folks):
- He has played just 143 games, significantly lower than anybody above him on this list. Keep in mind that this is a “career total” ranking.
- He played a full season just twice, and one of those seasons (2011) is my top ranked season of all time. In an index that calculates these scores on a season by season basis, every missed game is going to count and the man missed a lot of games. On a per game basis (as we’ll get into) he performs more like you’d expect.
- He didn’t necessarily have gaudy reception totals, which is a factor in the overall “Best” formula. In my adjusted “Best” formula for players since 1992 in the age of recorded targets, his catch percentage scores are also not quite as high as I expected them to be.
- He played in an era of the highest tight end production ever, and need I remind you, these sample sizes are not very big. Just by virtue of he and Jimmy Graham or he and Travis Kelce putting up ludicrous numbers, those outliers may very well have a significant impact on the data sets that he’s being compared to. This is an unfortunate thing that we deal with when using Z-Score with sample sizes that are smaller than ideal.
But let’s hype him up a bit. You know what Gronk did well? He made the most of his opportunities.
Many of you probably see this chart and that’s enough for you to say he’s the best tight end of all time. And that’s a totally reasonable thing to say with this information!
His per game totals for TDs, yards/target and yards/reception are the highest for basically any qualifying player. We don’t have comprehensive stats on this yet but I’d also guess that his average depth of target wasn’t substantially higher than your average tight end. But the guy was 6’6, 268 pounds (almost certainly bigger than that at times) and tackling him in his prime was like trying to bring down a Clydesdale on meth. Even with this relatively low ranking, he is the highest ranked TE by almost every touchdown score ranking that exists in this index. And need I mention, he is one of the best blocking tight ends of all time?
So yes, if you’re asking me what tight end I’d want for a single game, the answer is Rob Gronkowski without question. But this ranking is more about who you’d want for an entire career (or really, just who has had the most impressive careers on paper. Need I remind you folks, this should not be seen as any sort of end all by all of tight end rankings).
Travis Kelce, how much time do I need to spend on this? Kelce is already one of the most prolific tight ends of all time in just 127 games played. His averages are maybe propped up by the fact that he is still in his prime, and those could certainly drop. But I think it’s entirely possible that when it’s all said and done, he will have serious consideration as the best tight end of all time (or at least possessing one of the best tight end careers of all time). He had five seasons in the top 70 of this index, and the lowest ranking for any of his eight “real” seasons is 332nd. He’s a Hall of Famer if he retires today, and his production in terms of sheer yards and catch percentage is just hysterical.
Silly! Excellent tight end.
Jimmy Graham, the highest of highs and the most pretty good of lows. I feel like we’ve kind of memed Jimmy Graham into a sort of “great peak, overall not that important” kind of place in NFL history and I don’t really think that’s fair because even though he never quite reached the New Orleans level of ridiculous high-level shit, he’s been more than good in his various stops in Seattle, Green Bay and Chicago. He’s a really good tight end. Maybe he didn’t live up to his trade value for the Seahawks but he was still a more than solid starter.
Lay off Jimmy Graham, he was a great player. Treat him with respect.
Many of you probably don’t know about Keith Jackson (the tight end, not the broadcaster). His per season averages might not inspire ridiculous confidence in this ranking. But consider this; since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, only five players have been a First-Team All-Pro in each of their first three seasons. Those players are Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, Earl Campbell, Quenton Nelson and… Keith Jackson.
Is a career average of 700 yards and 6.5 touchdowns per season going to inspire awe in the public? Maybe not. But keep in mind that the late 80’s/early 90’s era was a bit of a wasteland for tight end production, and Jackson was one of the only guys who consistently put out very good numbers. And he was a great blocker, as well! I love Keith Jackson. This is a Keith Jackson lover's safe space.
Ozzie Newsome, we know him. Hall of Fame tight end, better executive. As of 1990, the end of his career, he had two of the 13 1,000 yard receiving seasons by a tight end. He played for 13 seasons as a consistent safety valve for the Browns. A Hall of Fame tight end ranked high here. Sue me.
But we’re all selfish worms arrogantly fiending for mentions of the teams that we support, so I have compiled…
Every NFL Teams Best Tight End By Career Total
| Player | Team | Total Games | Team Career Best Rank | Team Career Best Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFC NORTH | ||||
| Bears | Mike Ditka | 84 | 32 | 7.5901 |
| Lions | Charlie Sanders | 118 | 58 | 5.3833 |
| Vikings | Steve Jordan | 172 | 12 | 10.4487 |
| Packers | Paul Coffman | 103 | 20 | 8.6823 |
| NFC EAST | ||||
| Cowboys | Jason Witten | 255 | 3 | 19.8345 |
| Washington | Jerry Smith | 146 | 25 | 8.1404 |
| Eagles | Pete Pihos | 95 | 17 | 8.9988 |
| Giants | Mark Bavaro | 82 | 24 | 8.1850 |
| NFC SOUTH | ||||
| Falcons | Alge Crumpler | 108 | 26 | 7.9926 |
| Saints | Jimmy Graham | 78 | 15 | 9.7248 |
| Panthers | Wesley Walls | 98 | 14 | 9.7426 |
| Buccaneers | Jimmie Giles | 114 | 40 | 6.8337 |
| NFC WEST | ||||
| Rams | Tom Fears | 77 | 42 | 6.7480 |
| Seahawks | Jimmy Graham | 43 | 87 | 3.3385 |
| Cardinals | Jackie Smith | 158 | 23 | 8.3754 |
| 49ers | Brent Jones | 128 | 11 | 10.4992 |
| AFC NORTH | ||||
| Steelers | Heath Miller | 168 | 34 | 7.4289 |
| Browns | Ozzie Newsome | 198 | 8 | 13.5737 |
| Ravens | Todd Heap | 133 | 19 | 8.7001 |
| Bengals | Rodney Holman | 140 | 22 | 8.4817 |
| AFC EAST | ||||
| Patriots | Rob Gronkowski | 115 | 6 | 15.9998 |
| Jets | Mickey Shuler | 154 | 30 | 7.7530 |
| Dolphins | Keith Jackson | 44 | 59 | 5.2191 |
| Bills | Pete Metzelaars | 156 | 73 | 4.2529 |
| AFC SOUTH | ||||
| Colts | Dallas Clark | 115 | 28 | 7.7872 |
| Oilers/Titans | Frank Wycheck | 105 | 43 | 6.6860 |
| Texans | Owen Daniels | 100 | 65 | 4.8154 |
| Jaguars | Marcedes Lewis | 170 | 98 | 3.0697 |
| AFC WEST | ||||
| Chiefs | Tony Gonzalez | 174 | 1 | 24.8104 |
| Chargers | Antonio Gates | 204 | 2 | 23.1415 |
| Broncos | Shannon Sharpe | 172 | 4 | 19.5662 |
| Raiders | Todd Christensen | 92 | 10 | 12.8422 |
This list is exactly why tight end is such a weird position. Let’s be honest, a lot of you guys who are diehard fans of these teams and who might generally consider yourselves diehard fans of football were probably only vaguely familiar with some of these names at best. Steve Jordan? Paul Coffman? Jimmie Giles? Rodney Holman? Pete Metzelaars? MICKEY SHULER?????? Who are these people?
But look at the numbers, folks. These were good players! The accolades were greedily gobbled up by some of the “haves” of this crazy tight end world, but the numbers are good, and I’m not sure that I doubt the ranking of a single one of them.
Shoutout to the AFC West. Four of the top ten tight ends, including the first, second and fourth-ranked guys. That rules!
Poor Charlie Sanders, there are just nine tight ends in the Hall of Fame and he is unfortunately ranked lower than all of the others by a decent margin. Pretty consistently above-average career by “Best” score, but I dunno guys, it’s not super dominant. Happy for him though.
Wesley Walls, ranked ahead of Greg Olsen for the Panthers, what a crime. Wesley Walls is someone who I, a ludicrously fargone NFL history fanatic, quite frankly had no idea about prior to this database. This is the shit. This is why I do this. Because the guy was very good. One of only 10 tight ends with multiple seasons over 10 touchdowns. 10th all time in career receiving TDs for a tight end. Pretty goddamn good career!
I also just want to shoutout Alge Crumpler, a 6’2, 275 pound tight end king on those Michael Vick-era Falcons teams. Dude was built like a nose tackle from the early 80’s and he was out there compiling historically significant Y/R scores because he was a goddamn tank and could take whatever hit the defense dished out and give it back in spades. Much love to this thick hoss.
Now, let’s get a little more granular.
The Best Individual Tight End Seasons Of All Time
| Rank | Player | Year | Team | "Best" Score | Rec. Z-Score | Yards Z-Score | TD Z-Score | Y/R Z-Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Gronkowski*+ | 2011 | NWE | 3.5579 | 2.4736 | 3.4911 | 5.3144 | 1.3266 |
| 2 | Travis Kelce*+ | 2020 | KAN | 3.5485 | 3.6189 | 4.3505 | 3.8596 | .8412 |
| 3 | Tony Gonzalez*+ | 2000 | KAN | 3.5148 | 3.9471 | 4.5187 | 3.3286 | .9254 |
| 4 | Todd Christensen*+ | 1983 | RAI | 3.4798 | 3.5125 | 3.7646 | 4.3901 | .6791 |
| 5 | Kellen Winslow Sr.*+ | 1980 | SDG | 3.2366 | 3.8758 | 4.1675 | 2.9565 | .7243 |
| 6 | Mark Andrews*+ | 2021 | BAL | 3.2014 | 3.7125 | 4.1219 | 3.0430 | .6272 |
| 7 | Ben Coates*+ | 1994 | NWE | 3.2011 | 4.0964 | 4.2769 | 2.6512 | .5790 |
| 8 | Antonio Gates*+ | 2004 | SDG | 3.1962 | 2.7380 | 2.8473 | 4.9793 | .6305 |
| 9 | Shannon Sharpe*+ | 1996 | DEN | 3.1709 | 3.1115 | 3.6698 | 3.6363 | 1.0205 |
| 10 | Shannon Sharpe*+ | 1993 | DEN | 3.1380 | 3.3346 | 3.5419 | 3.7099 | .5840 |
| 11 | Travis Kelce*+ | 2018 | KAN | 3.1064 | 3.3372 | 3.8380 | 3.2602 | .6844 |
| 12 | Jimmy Graham*+ | 2013 | NOR | 3.0936 | 2.2464 | 3.0257 | 4.6271 | 1.0190 |
| 13 | Todd Christensen* | 1986 | RAI | 3.0045 | 3.8704 | 3.7243 | 2.9151 | .2137 |
| 14 | Mike Ditka* | 1961 | CHI | 2.9944 | 2.2508 | 3.3042 | 4.0205 | 1.0340 |
| 15 | Antonio Gates*+ | 2005 | SDG | 2.9857 | 3.0285 | 3.3102 | 3.5730 | .8141 |
| 16 | Tony Gonzalez* | 2004 | KAN | 2.9739 | 3.8194 | 4.1225 | 2.1861 | .7991 |
| 17 | Darren Waller* | 2020 | LVR | 2.9188 | 3.7089 | 3.5148 | 2.9909 | .1643 |
| 18 | Wesley Walls* | 1999 | CAR | 2.9039 | 2.1873 | 2.6543 | 4.5008 | .9171 |
| 19 | Travis Kelce* | 2021 | KAN | 2.8925 | 3.0440 | 3.2491 | 3.4790 | .4838 |
| 20 | Kellen Winslow Sr.*+ | 1981 | SDG | 2.8619 | 3.5332 | 3.1204 | 3.3819 | .0568 |
| 21 | Tony Gonzalez*+ | 1999 | KAN | 2.8611 | 2.9346 | 2.7837 | 4.0464 | .2241 |
| 22 | Kellen Winslow Sr.* | 1983 | SDG | 2.7491 | 3.3021 | 3.4646 | 2.6000 | .5738 |
| 23 | Jimmy Graham* | 2011 | NOR | 2.7483 | 2.8707 | 3.4209 | 2.8500 | .7469 |
| 24 | Tony Gonzalez*+ | 2003 | KAN | 2.7479 | 2.3089 | 2.7579 | 3.7743 | 1.0368 |
| 25 | Rodney Holman* | 1989 | CIN | 2.7173 | 1.7434 | 2.4499 | 4.3107 | 1.1666 |
| 26 | Jackie Smith* | 1967 | STL | 2.6531 | 1.9469 | 3.6401 | 2.3299 | 2.1248 |
| 27 | Zach Ertz* | 2018 | PHI | 2.6157 | 3.9079 | 3.1978 | 2.4154 | -.2368 |
| 28 | Rob Gronkowski*+ | 2015 | NWE | 2.5772 | 1.7035 | 3.0140 | 3.0476 | 1.7829 |
| 29 | Pete Retzlaff*+ | 1965 | PHI | 2.5665 | 2.6750 | 3.1751 | 2.6255 | .8342 |
| 30 | Rich Caster* | 1972 | NYJ | 2.5090 | 1.0696 | 2.3994 | 3.5643 | 2.5144 |
I’m going to go into a few of those guys in the next section, so I’ll focus on a few of the weirder ones.
Jackie Smith in 1967 had a very interesting year for the Cardinals. 1,205 yards is a lot, but the really interesting thing is the absurd 21.5 yards per reception. That is the highest mark for any tight end in a season with over 850 yards, and the 13th highest mark for any receiver period over 1,200 yards. He and Rich Caster (a tight end for the Jets, moved to WR with the Oilers later in his career) both had incredibly high Y/R scores for their individual seasons to go along with pretty significant touchdown figures, as well.
Rodney Holman was a pretty solid tight end on some very underrated late 80’s Bengals offenses. 1989 was definitely a good season for him, he was named Second-Team All-Pro for the second straight season (behind Keith Jackson both times). Remember how I said this wasn’t a great era for tight ends? This is an example of that.
The Best Tight Ends By Prime “Best” Average
| Rank | Player | Prime Best Average | Prime Best Total | Prime Touchdowns Average | Prime Yards Average | Prime Receptions Average | Prime Y/R Average | Prime Average P/G | Prime Average P/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Gonzalez | 2.7575 | 13.7874 | 3.1635 | 3.1480 | 2.9477 | .6235 | .1745 | .0336 |
| 2 | Travis Kelce | 2.7416 | 13.7082 | 2.5526 | 3.5716 | 3.1101 | .6647 | .1735 | .0282 |
| 3 | Shannon Sharpe | 2.6734 | 13.3672 | 2.5241 | 3.3901 | 2.9735 | .8753 | .1714 | .0348 |
| 4 | Antonio Gates | 2.5889 | 12.9447 | 3.2224 | 2.7940 | 2.3692 | .9872 | .1660 | .0328 |
| 5 | Rob Gronkowski | 2.5132 | 12.5660 | 3.3187 | 2.7026 | 1.7861 | 1.3161 | .1770 | .0341 |
| 6 | Todd Christensen | 2.4270 | 12.1349 | 2.3237 | 3.0176 | 2.9540 | .4805 | .1597 | .0306 |
| 7 | Kellen Winslow Sr. | 2.3714 | 11.8569 | 2.4123 | 2.8643 | 2.8828 | .3758 | .1624 | .0310 |
| 8 | Ben Coates | 2.2948 | 11.4738 | 2.4861 | 2.6575 | 2.8518 | .1669 | .1471 | .0305 |
| 9 | Jimmy Graham | 2.1321 | 10.6605 | 2.8673 | 2.2336 | 2.0201 | .3805 | .1333 | .0271 |
| 10 | Ozzie Newsome | 1.9967 | 9.9835 | 1.8411 | 2.4807 | 2.6725 | .1979 | .1248 | .0272 |
This is just an average of a player’s scores in their five best-ranked seasons.
A lot of familiar faces, so let’s focus on two.
The best player to ever sport the #46, former Raider Todd Christensen was a bit of a surprise to me in doing this project. Chalk it up to some unfair profiling, but I suppose I sort of looked at the 6’3, 230 pound white dude who is best known for being sure-handed and kind of penciled him in as a Russ Francis-type guy. But those stats don’t lie, folks! Dude was ahead of the game and on par with Kellen Winslow during the five or so years that he was a starter. Total receiving freak disguised as a second-string fullback, wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Ben Coates, AKA the best Patriots tight end to ever wear the number 87 (I’m joking, get pranked) is also a pretty severely underrated player. He’s tied with Kellen Winslow for the 8th most all-time for seasons with over 650 yards (six), he beat out Shannon Sharpe for numerous All-Pro awards, and his 1994 season is legitimately fucking cracked for that era. Just a really consistent tight end, and got pretty damn close to a Super Bowl on that oft-forgotten 1996 Drew Bledsoe-led Patriots team. Big Ben Coates head, here!
The Best Tight Ends By Career Per Game “Best” Average (min. 60 games played)
| Rank | Player | Career P/G Average Best Score | Average Season | Adj. Average Receptions per Season | Adj. Average Yards per Season | Adj. Average TDs per Season | Career Average Y/R | Receptions Career Average Z-Score | Yards Career Average Z-Score | TDs Career Average Z-Score | Y/R Career Average Z-Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Gonzalez | 3.3134 | 2005.5 | 86.5 | 987.8 | 7.3 | 11.4 | 3.9668 | 4.0234 | 3.3203 | .6441 |
| 2 | Todd Christensen | 3.1203 | 1985.0 | 83.7 | 1063.8 | 7.2 | 12.7 | 3.6756 | 3.7218 | 3.2393 | .5975 |
| 3 | Rob Gronkowski | 2.9424 | 2015.2 | 73.8 | 1103.9 | 10.9 | 15.2 | 2.1814 | 3.3454 | 3.5659 | 1.7090 |
| 4 | Kellen Winslow Sr. | 2.9191 | 1983.0 | 84.4 | 1051.3 | 7.0 | 12.2 | 3.5773 | 3.5888 | 2.9644 | .2498 |
| 5 | Travis Kelce | 2.8972 | 2017.5 | 95.0 | 1215.1 | 7.7 | 12.8 | 3.4439 | 3.9320 | 2.5259 | .4867 |
| 6 | Shannon Sharpe | 2.8570 | 1996.5 | 67.9 | 838.3 | 5.2 | 12.4 | 3.4724 | 3.7660 | 2.3780 | .8859 |
| 7 | Keith Jackson | 2.8100 | 1992.0 | 58.1 | 696.2 | 6.5 | 12.1 | 2.9560 | 2.9466 | 3.5245 | .6358 |
| 8 | Mark Andrews | 2.6735 | 2019.5 | 72.1 | 950.4 | 8.0 | 13.6 | 2.6195 | 3.1443 | 3.0578 | .7665 |
| 9 | George Kittle | 2.5694 | 2019.0 | 85.0 | 1139.0 | 5.1 | 13.2 | 3.2038 | 3.9238 | 1.5853 | .6749 |
| 10 | Dave Casper | 2.5201 | 1979.0 | 59.2 | 830.9 | 7.9 | 14.3 | 2.5374 | 2.6823 | 3.1087 | .7664 |
| 11 | Mark Bavaro | 2.3229 | 1989.3 | 47.4 | 638.6 | 5.3 | 13.2 | 2.1320 | 2.4592 | 2.9685 | .8126 |
| 12 | Wesley Walls | 2.2979 | 1998.5 | 52.2 | 621.0 | 6.3 | 11.9 | 2.0772 | 2.3471 | 3.1590 | .5445 |
| 13 | Brent Jones | 2.2296 | 1993.0 | 54.1 | 677.7 | 4.1 | 12.9 | 2.5288 | 2.8729 | 1.8344 | 1.1678 |
| 14 | Antonio Gates | 2.2273 | 2010.5 | 68.8 | 853.0 | 8.4 | 12.4 | 2.0412 | 2.3528 | 3.0029 | .4380 |
| 15 | Eric Green | 2.1932 | 1994.0 | 54.9 | 672.7 | 5.3 | 12.0 | 2.2637 | 2.4804 | 2.4540 | .8143 |
This is calculated by taking a player’s career per game averages, as well as an average season player, and then rerunning my usual function on this separate database.
Some obvious top guys. Tony G (king) leads the pack, Todd Christensen making himself known again, Gronk regrettably not at the top. Once again, let’s focus on some newbies.
Mark Andrews And George Kittle* are some new blood. Obviously they get a bit of a bump because they’re still in the primes of their careers and have yet to suffer the indignity of trying to play on a third or fourth contract when they’re clearly past their primes. These two have both been fucking awesome, George Kittle currently ranks third among all tight ends in yards/target average score (min. 100 receptions) behind only Gronk and…
Fred Davis? Huh. That’s fascinating. Shoutout to Fred Davis! Pog in the chat for a Fred Davis mention, big win for all of the FredHeads out there.
Dave Casper, another Raider, this time of the John Madden/Oakland variety. Raiders getting a lot of love to make up for some of the running backs not doing quite as well as Raider Nation maybe would have wanted last week. They really had that prototypical white old-school tight end archetype down for a good while.
Mark Bavaro, NFL history’s “Ryan Gosling from Drive", very glad that he got some love. Bavaro was a classically old school tight end as well. Strong and silent type, some of my favorite interviews in NFL history because he was such a unique contrast between general disposition and play style. Soft-spoken, maybe a little introverted, absolute killer on the field. Ran hard with the ball in his hands and a fucking excellent blocker, you knew what you were getting with Mark every week of every season and for a short while there was probably the best tight end in the league.
Brent Jones, an underrated cog in the San Francisco West Coast offense headed by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Certainly not the flashiest guy on the face of the planet but a consistent safety valve and definitely got some consideration as one of the better tight ends with four Pro Bowls and two Second-Team All-Pro nods.
And finally, the reason why I extended this table to 15 players, Eric Green. Eric Green was a good player, had solid stops in three different places, had some pretty good Y/R scores, etc. But Eric Green is fun because he is probably the most physically massive full-time starting skill position player that the league will ever see (is tight end a skill position?). He was 6’5, and weighed anywhere from 280 to 300 pounds. 300 pounds and still putting up good stats as a receiving tight end! I made a career highlight video for him a few years ago if you want to see what this looks like. It’s actually hilarious. Dude was lining up in the backfield, lining up out wide, lining up in the slot, just absolutely dwarfing everyone around him.
And now because I know there are some old heads (and Bears/Colts fans) mad at me, I want to take a quick second to acknowledge the guys from the Antediluvian era of the 60’s and 50’s who were unfortunately shafted by the reality of constructing this index…
The Best Tight Ends Of The 1960’s
| Player | Best Total |
|---|---|
| Mike Ditka | 6.6136 |
| Pete Retzlaff | 6.3654 |
| John Mackey | 6.0481 |
| Jackie Smith | 5.5823 |
| Aaron Thomas | 4.5476 |
| Jerry Smith | 4.2280 |
| Bob Trumpy | 2.6203 |
| Carroll Dale | 2.1021 |
| Willie Frazier | 2.0507 |
| Jacque MacKinnon | 1.6645 |
The Best Tight Ends Of 1948-1959
| Player | Best Total |
|---|---|
| Pete Pihos | 8.4136 |
| Tom Fears | 6.7480 |
| Jim Mutscheller | 5.4672 |
| Dante Lavelli | 4.8280 |
| Alyn Beals | 3.3663 |
| Bob Shaw | 3.0291 |
| Fran Polsfoot | 2.0516 |
| Ken Kavanaugh | 1.8007 |
| John Greene | 1.7776 |
| Lamar Davis | 1.6312 |
I really do feel bad that these guys don’t show up more in this ranking but when I say that trying to compile this ranking for all of the guys who actually played tight end in this era was hard, I’m not kidding. Also, stat keeping was just not as rigorous back in those days so these sample sizes are really quite small and populated mainly with guys who performed relatively well, so the Z-Scores don’t really reflect some of the goodness.
But I will say, the idea that I think a lot of people have that tight ends weren’t really used as receivers prior to the 60’s is probably not true? Some of these guys like Pete Pihos, Tom Fears and Pete Retzlaff almost certainly spent a decent amount of time at split end or flanker as well, but it’s not like there weren’t “traditional” tight ends putting up some impressive receiving numbers for the era.
It’s too bad that Mike Ditka and John Mackey, two of only nine tight ends in the Hall of Fame, didn’t rank higher. I would have liked it, and it would have made me feel a little better about the viability of the index. But at the very least, I’m glad that they perform about where you’d expect within the narrower parameters of these rankings.
And in a section that is making a return from last week to avoid the inevitable questions I’m going to get about guys who weren’t featured in this post, presented with minimal commentary…
”Hey, Where Is (This Guy)?”
| Player | Best Total Rank | Best Average Rank | Best Career Total | Best Career Average | Receptions Career Average | Yards Career Average | TD Career Average | Y/R Career Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach Ertz | 15 | 24 | 10.6374 | 1.1819 | 1.8228 | 1.6165 | .8621 | -.0233 |
| Greg Olsen | 17 | 63 | 10.3329 | .7381 | .9623 | 1.0076 | .6011 | .1112 |
| Riley Odoms | 20 | 44 | 9.0756 | .9076 | .9430 | 1.0632 | .8162 | .4270 |
| Jay Novacek | 21 | 36 | 9.0688 | 1.0076 | 1.3988 | 1.2403 | .8703 | .0497 |
| Vernon Davis | 22 | 69 | 9.0637 | .6972 | .4597 | .7389 | .8049 | .7283 |
| Jeremy Shockey | 25 | 48 | 8.4386 | .8439 | 1.2063 | 1.1758 | .5482 | .2032 |
| Jared Cook | 26 | 67 | 8.4315 | .7026 | .6502 | .9484 | .5076 | .6918 |
| Dallas Clark | 31 | 60 | 7.6366 | .7637 | .7376 | .7301 | .9912 | .3436 |
| Chris Cooley | 35 | 34 | 7.2437 | 1.0348 | 1.3706 | 1.2638 | .9907 | .1056 |
| Kellen Winslow Jr. | 42 | 42 | 6.4330 | .9190 | 1.5299 | 1.4300 | .3513 | .1027 |
| Russ Francis | 45 | 117 | 5.9638 | .4588 | .3839 | .4919 | .4889 | .4637 |
| Hunter Henry | 51 | 29 | 5.5928 | 1.1186 | .9986 | 1.0856 | 1.5799 | .4014 |
| Darren Waller | 58 | 18 | 4.9618 | 1.2405 | 1.7571 | 1.8661 | .6148 | .4340 |
| Eric Ebron | 62 | 88 | 4.7622 | .5953 | .6736 | .6005 | .7281 | -.1366 |
| Kyle Rudolph | 65 | 124 | 4.4660 | .4060 | .5840 | .3430 | .7242 | -.4016 |
| Delanie Walker | 68 | 135 | 4.2833 | .3894 | .4628 | .5178 | .1981 | .2940 |
| Julius Thomas | 74 | 64 | 3.5856 | .7171 | .5428 | .4157 | 1.6029 | -.2938 |
| Ben Watson | 80 | 178 | 3.4442 | .2460 | .3315 | .3104 | .2082 | .0634 |
| Billy Joe DuPree | 82 | 158 | 3.2821 | .2984 | .0947 | .1090 | .6809 | -.0135 |
| Randy McMichael | 83 | 150 | 3.1924 | .3192 | .5953 | .5244 | .0309 | .0817 |
| Aaron Hernandez | 93 | 41 | 2.7751 | .9250 | 1.0613 | .9790 | 1.0884 | -.0345 |
| Zach Miller | 103 | 189 | 2.3930 | .2175 | .3365 | .3600 | .0542 | .0857 |
| Martellus Bennett | 107 | 176 | 2.2589 | .2510 | .4932 | .3662 | .1825 | -.2204 |
Boring bullshit ahead!
Methodology
Like for the last few posts, I’m going to reference back to my original post using this index wherein I detail how exactly this was calculated. I did make a slight adjustment, making this rolling formula encapsulate a rolling seven year period as opposed to a rolling five year period to increase some sample sizes. I’m not sure if this was beneficial. I’m not a statistician.
My formulas for “Best” score and the adjusted “Best” Score that I did for players since 1992 are as follows:
“Best” Score: =((Receptions.21)+(ScrimmageYards.33)+(TotalTDs.32)+(Y/R.14))
Adjusted “Best” Score: =(((Targets0.8)+(Catch%1.2)/2)0.22)+(Total TDs0.28)+(Yards/Target0.27)+(ScrimmageYards0.23)
I’m not sure if everyone would have ranked these stats in the same way. I made a post last week to crowdsource some opinions and it pretty much was useless, but I got a few earnest responses that helped me rank the importance of these various basic counting stats (and I reiterate, in this context, I really don’t have many other choices). But I’m doing wide receivers next week, and I would absolutely LOVE if people weighed in on how they think these should look because I imagine people will be more interested in that and I want to be in top form.
Thanks guys, this was a lot of fun as usual. Thanks to anyone who reads any part of this, even if you hated it.
I’m well aware that this isn’t the most sophisticated analysis and is certainly not a flawless index that anybody should feel obligated to take offense to, and if you have any particular concerns with my methodology I’m quite open to good faith critiques. I do this for you folks and I want everything to be as fair as possible. I’m not a statistician, I’m not a talent evaluator. Hell folks, I’m not even a decent member of society with relevant interests. I literally could not tell you what the fuck blockchain technology is because I focus on this instead, and that really seems like something that’s going to be important.
I’m a disgustingly depraved football loadpig and these posts are just my way of exploring NFL history with you all in a period of the offseason that can be quite boring.
NEXT WEEK… WIDE RECEIVERS.
I love you, Pro-Football-Reference.
Like, comment and subscribe. Lmao. Obviously being ironic, that’s corny. Get pranked.
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